MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) European court grants complaints of three Russian inmates / Armenia may lose Gazprom's favor / War between TNK-BP shareholders may end soon / Wedding boom expected in Russia on August 8 / Russian weapons "conquer" Libya /
Gazeta
European court grants complaints of three Russian inmates
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday considered three appeals from Russian citizens.
Prisoners Andrei Nadrosov and Nikolai Starokadomsky, who complained of police brutality, are to receive compensations of 10,000 and 15,500 euros, respectively. Saipudi Salmanov, who said the police beat him up and placed him in the same room with an HIV man, is to receive 9,600 euros.
Nadrosov, 32, is serving a nine-year sentence in Bataisk, the Rostov Region, for robbery. Of the eight years in prison, he has been fighting for his rights in court for six years. He writes in his complaint that he was beaten up by police during his arrest in 2000.
His lawyer, Ksenia Kostromina, an expert at the Center of Assistance for International Defense, said he was lucky to have the results of a medical examination. "Few prisoners have proof of beatings, and therefore cannot file a court appeal," she said.
Nadrosov first appealed to a Russian court, but was dissatisfied with results and two years later sent his complaint to Strasbourg.
Kostromina said more Russians are sending their complaints to the European court of human rights, which points to their growing legal awareness. Also, public organizations working in prisons help inmates formulate their complaints.
"When the Center of Assistance for International Defense started working 10 years ago, no one, including the inmates, knew anything about the European court," Kostromina said. "We distributed instructions in prisons on the form for appealing to the Strasbourg court and told the inmates about the main principles of the European convention on human rights and fundamental freedoms."
With time, inmates started appealing to the Strasbourg court on their own or with the help of their relatives.
The lawyer said legal literacy among inmates is growing along with the competence of Russian judges.
"I once referred to the European convention on human rights and fundamental freedoms when speaking in Russia's Supreme Court, but the judge cut me short, saying that I should adhere to the Russian Criminal Code," Kostromina said. "The situation has changed since then."
Positive rulings are made on many Russian inmates' appeals to the European court. Last week, the court ruled that Russia must pay 20,000 euros to Vladimir Romanov, 35, sentenced for robbery, who complained of repeated beatings by prison guards and that the Russian court had not investigated his case properly.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Armenia may lose Gazprom's favor
Armen Movsisyan, Armenia's minister of energy and natural resources, said Gazprom had informed his country of its intention to raise natural gas prices from $110 to $165 per 1,000 cubic meters next year.
By 2011, the Russian energy giant intends to sell natural gas to the CIS countries at European prices minus transportation fees.
Despite the planned rise, Armenia, which has turned over several strategic companies to Gazprom and other Russian companies, will still pay relatively little for Russian natural gas. Only Belarus may possibly pay less, because it has many instruments for influencing Russia.
Movsisyan said negotiations to coordinate the price were still underway.
Armenia currently pays $110 per cubic meter, the lowest in the CIS. Belarus pays $119, although Gazprom has insisted since the second quarter this year that the price should be $127, in line with bilateral agreements.
Georgia pays $235 per 1,000 cubic meters, and Moldova agreed in July to pay $253 beginning in August, on the condition that the price will not be raised during the 2008-2009 winter season.
Analysts say the energy concern will do its best to negotiate conversion to global prices minus transportation fees with all CIS countries in the next two or three years.
Andrei Podoinitsyn, head of UFG Asset Management, said Gazprom had redoubled its efforts to switch to market prices for all partners who had hitherto enjoyed privileges for political and economic reasons. One reason is that Gazprom will pay more for Turkmen gas next year.
Dmitry Pushkarev, chief analyst at ITinvest, one of Russia's fastest growing investment companies, said natural gas prices for Belarus and Armenia would remain the lowest in the CIS despite the increase. Belarus will most likely get the most favored price for several reasons.
"Belarus has more economic and political instruments of pressure on Russia, and therefore will most likely buy Russian natural gas at the lowest prices [in the CIS]," Pushkarev said. "The other CIS countries should prepare for a doubling of gas prices by 2010."
Svetlana Savchenko, in charge of investment planning at 2K Audit Business Consulting, said gas transit countries like Ukraine and Belarus have an advantage over the other CIS countries, because they may still negotiate an increase with Gazprom. But they may lose this privilege in the middle term because of the Nord Stream and South Stream pipeline projects.
Armenia has no transit gas pipelines and has turned over a considerable part of its attractive assets to Russian companies, notably Gazprom, which holds a 72.16% stake in Armrosgazprom, established in 1997 as a joint Russian-Armenian natural gas pipeline venture, and part of Armenia's gas infrastructure.
Russian assets in Armenia may also include the second leg of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, currently under construction. Nonetheless, expansion possibilities are limited.
Vedomosti
War between TNK-BP shareholders may end soon
Alfa Group founder Mikhail Fridman and BP CEO Tony Hayward met on July 31 to search for a compromise in the conflict which has been going on for the last six months.
Officially, representatives of TNK-BP and both sides in the conflict have refused to comment on the meeting and its results, but Vedomosti was told about it by a TNK-BP manager, two sources close to BP and two others close to the AAR consortium of TNK-BP's Russian shareholders (Alfa Group, Access Industries and Renova).
One of the sources says that Fridman and Hayward have agreed to put an end to the war between shareholders. A full replacement of TNK-BP's top management would be the main condition for a truce. According to the source, BP has agreed not only to look for a new director general to replace Robert Dudley, but also that the new director would not be drawn from among BP's managers. The British company has been given four to six months to do this. When AAR approves the new director general, he will form a new team of top managers.
Fridman may also step down as chairman of TNK-BP's board of directors, to be replaced by an independent director. While BP is looking for a new director general, the sides will draft and introduce amendments to the agreement on the joint-stock company signed in 2003.
A source close to TNK-BP confirmed to a FT correspondent that Fridman and Hayward had agreed on a truce, but did not reveal the terms.
Stan Polovets, AAR's chief executive, recalled that in July AAR put the issue of Dudley's replacement by an independent director on the agenda of TNK-BP's board of directors. If BP agrees to this, all TNK-BP's top managers will have to resign to allow the new leader to form a new team. However, Polovets refused to discuss the possibility of Fridman's resignation.
BP spokesman Vladimir Buyanov repeated in July that Dudley would keep his post and BP would continue to support him. However, prior to the meeting a source close to BP told Vedomosti that Fridman and Hayward would discuss a compromise reshuffle of the company's management. He assumed this would involve a replacement of TNK-BP's five key figures: TNK-BP's director general Robert Dudley (AAR is still pressing for his replacement), two Russian vice presidents Igor Maidannik (for legal issues) and Boris Kondrashov (for security), and executive directors Viktor Vekselberg and German Khan.
A source close to an AAR partner confirmed that the consortium was ready to discuss the resignation of all these people in exchange for Dudley's resignation and his replacement by a candidate independent of BP.
Another source in the company says that Fridman's resignation as chairman of the board had never been discussed, and BP had not demanded it.
Andrei Shtorkh of Renova, a member of the AAR consortium, says that his company favors the truce. He recalls that Vekselberg proposed that the TNK-BP partners should stop viewing the conflict in "zero sum" terms.
Vedomosti could not get in touch with a representative of Access Industries.
One TNK-BP manager thinks it will not be easy to persuade the company's top managers to resign. While Fridman and Vekselberg are not particularly keen to keep their posts, German Khan, Alfa's co-owner, is working at TNK-BP with great pleasure. TNK-BP is his life's work, an acquaintance says. Khan played a key part in establishing TNK, which passed through a series of bankruptcies and corporate wars. His most famous victory was control over Nizhnevartovskneftegaz, the company's key subsidiary, for which he had to "fight" quite seriously with the company's director general Viktor Paliy. With Khan's active participation, TNK won control over Kondpetroleum and Chernogorneft, Sidanco's two bankrupted subsidiaries accounting for half of that company's reserves.
Kommersant
Wedding boom expected in Russia on August 8
The Russian registration offices are preparing for a wedding boom on August 8 (08/08/08). Brides and grooms looking for "triple good fortune" will be registered on that day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., three hours longer than usual.
Yevgenia Smirnova, secretary of the Moscow registration department, said: "We will register 1,592 couples on that day, whereas the usual figure is less than 1,000."
Brides and grooms write on the net they had to start queuing at night several months ago to ensure an August 8 wedding.
All available limos have been hired for the day and restaurants stopped accepting wedding party requests in mid-July. The cost of wedding services in Russia has grown by 25%-30%.
The situation was similar last year on July 7 (07/07/07), when nearly 1,700 weddings were celebrated in Moscow, approximately 2,000 in St. Petersburg, and in general twice or three times the usual number across Russia.
Family psychologists say couples registered on such days usually have a good family life.
"The festive atmosphere on such days serves as an additional impetus for trying to preserve families," psychologist Inna Yartseva said.
"We have few holidays initiated by people, so such events can be compared with New Years celebrations or Russia grabbing an unexpected place in the Euro 2008 semifinals," psychologist Boris Novoderzhkin said.
But the magic of figures alone does not guarantee a happy family life. Although the Moscow registration office has yet to calculate the number of divorces among the couples registered on July 7, 2007, they said a few couples did file for divorce only weeks after their weddings.
"We don't expect the percent of divorces to soar above the usual number after the August 8, 2008 weddings," Smirnova said.
According to the Moscow registration department, there were 48,100 divorces per 88,000 weddings last year. In the first half of 2008, they registered 33,500 weddings and 24,100 divorces.
Gazeta
Russian weapons "conquer" Libya
Libya is becoming one of Russia's main geopolitical and economic allies. Besides military-technical cooperation, which started in the Soviet era, the two countries are considering establishing oil and gas partnership. Principal agreements granting access to the Libyan market to Gazprom and major Russian oil companies were signed by Vladimir Putin, then Russian president, who was on a visit to Libya in April.
Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi, who is on a formal visit to Russia, reiterated Thursday Libya's commitment to strengthening ties with Russia.
As a sign of good faith, al-Mahmoudi brought Alexander Tsygankov, a LUKoil Overseas employee, with him to Moscow. Tsygankov spent over six months in a Libyan prison on suspicion of industrial spying, but was released by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's order, though Libyan secret services doubted his innocence.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appreciated Gaddafi's gesture, saying: "This shows that Russia has good relations with Libya."
In April, new agreements were reached on Russian-made weapons deliveries to Libya, who is keen on buying S-300 Favorit, Tor-M1, Buk-M1-2 air defense missile systems and Grad multiple launch rocket systems. In addition, Libya will buy 30 MiG-29SMT and Su-30MK fighters, six Yak-130 combat trainers, several dozens Mi-17, Mi-35 and Ka-52 helicopters, 50 T-90S tanks plus an advanced submarine. Russia is also ready to assist Libya in upgrading its older Soviet-made military equipment.
In exchange for the weapons deals and, apparently, Tsygankov's release, Libya asked Russia to write off old debt, totaling $4.6 billion. Analysts say, the military contracts will cover half of the debt, and Russia could write off the rest for Libya's readiness to cooperate in the oil sector.
Gazprom and Tatneft have started developing six gas and oil fields in Libya. Gazprom is also interested in purchasing oil and gas from Libya and building a gas pipeline between Libya and Europe, though no details have been announced yet.
Analysts say this project has good prospects. Libya has the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in Africa.
RZD (Russian Railways) struck a $2.2 billion deal to build a Sirt-Benghazi rail line. On Thursday, the Libyan delegates invited Vladimir Putin to attend the rail line's ground breaking.
Rosatom has its own plans for Libya. The two countries agreed to build a nuclear power plant in Libya, with Russia able to assist the Libyans both in plant construction and in the supply of nuclear fuel.
"The power plant will be generating electricity and desalinating sea water," the Libyan Prime Minister said.
Vladimir Putin and al-Mahmoudi agreed to establish a Libyan investment agency's office in Russia.
Cooperation with Libya is likely to help Russian companies enter other African markets, although Libya and its leader have a notorious international reputation. An economic blockade was once imposed on Libya by the U.S., and the two countries have strained relations despite the restoration of diplomatic ties.
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